


Go Forward, Do Not Stray

by pencilguin



Series: Fictober 2018 [18]
Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: Gen, Magicant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 16:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16685179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: “I'll be your courage.”Ness has entered the realm of his mind, inhabited by strange people and creatures. Some of the new faces he meets are the Flying Men.





	Go Forward, Do Not Stray

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on Tumblr as part of the Fictober 2018 challenge. Unbeta'd; I apologize for any mistakes that might still be in there. 
> 
> Content warning: Mention of a canon character death.

Ness kept wandering the mysterious, magical land, looking this way and that, talking to all kinds of people—friends, enemies, acquaintances, strangers—that he had met throughout his life. Everything was all color; bright and cheerful or soft cream pastels, and every time he turned around, they seemed to change before his eyes. No sun was visible in the sky, nor were any moving clouds, yet on his bare skin he could feel the warmth of sun rays and the tickle of a gentle breeze. The blades of grass between his toes had to be the softest he had ever touched, and with every step they seemed to bounce like cotton candy. 

As he walked on, the familiar faces grew fewer until the path narrowed. To the left and the right of it was nothing, only a cosmic sea of glowing planets and sparkling stars and eternally spinning galaxies. He came upon a small house with a spire roof shaped like a Christmas tree pictogram, snuggled against a pale rock formation nearly half its own height. Getting closer, he noticed a grave a little in front of the house. He stepped closer, careful not to tread on its heap, and read the inscription on it. 

_This is Buzz Buzz's tombstone. He appeared earlier in the game and gave up the ghost before he achieved his goal._

Ness thought back to the fateful night he encountered Buzz Buzz with a pang of guilt and sadness. Their meeting had been so brief, and he had been so young and so ignorant. Buzz Buzz had given his life to protect his, and Ness hadn’t even realized at the time what was going on. How important had their meeting been, how much did he owe to Buzz Buzz; his death seemed even more pointless with all that he knew now. 

For some time he stood there, crying in silence. Crying here felt right and honest and true. Crying here felt safe. This was the place of his mind, the place of his heart. He stayed until he felt that his heartache had been cleansed by the tears. Then he turned to the house and curiously stepped inside. 

The inside of it was decorated with cheerful wallpapers in soft green and a checkered yellow and blue pattern, and an upbeat tune was coming out of a corner of the room, though he could not identify the actual source of it, it seemed to just linger in the air, like all the other sounds in Magicant. A sign near the wall spelled “Flying Man” and to the far end of the room were several beds with wooden posts. Grass and small bushes grew on the floor inside, just like in the other houses. 

The most wondrous sight, however, were the inhabitants: Five tall men, wearing only long red trousers, their strong, muscular bodies were entirely covered in smooth, yellow feathers, and their heads were the heads of birds, with sharp red beaks and large red feathers growing out of the back like hair and intense, red bird eyes. 

For several seconds, Ness just stood at the door in awe before he slowly walked up to one of them. As the Flying Man noticed him, he turned around and strode over on his claw feet with a few large steps. 

“Ness,” he said. “We have been awaiting your arrival.” 

Ness opened his mouth and closed it again, and the awareness that he was still gaping made him uncomfortable, but he couldn’t stop quite yet. 

“I saw Buzz Buzz’s grave,” he managed at last. “I’m sorry.” 

The Flying Man shook his head. 

“It was unavoidable. Everything that has happened was meant to happen, as the prophecy has told.” 

“I wish he was still here,” Ness quietly said, lowering his head. 

“We are all here,” said the Flying Man. “Are you going to the Sea of Eden?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then I’ll be your courage. I’ll remain unless you lose your courage. Let me go with you.” 

“Okay,” Ness said. 

He stayed to talk to the other Flying Men for a bit, and they were kind and happy that he was here, but they did not say much more. Eventually, Ness turned around and went back outside, and his new companion followed him. 

The narrow path went on, and along it were more souls from memories past to be remembered. Eventually they passed a point that felt like they’d crossed a line, over into wild and uncharted territory. There was a shift again in the magical realm that Ness’s mind had created, and with it came more intense colors and rougher edges to everything and more sinister sounds. Ness wondered what parts of his mind had dreamt up this landscape, and if he should be worried by the potential for darkness that seemed to lurk underneath. He swallowed. 

“You are afraid,” the Flying Man assessed as he glanced down at him. 

“This feels different,” Ness muttered. “What will await us here?” 

“We will find out when we go there.” He rested a feathered hand on Ness’s shoulder to comfort him. It felt soft and warm and cuddly, a little like the plush animals he had when he was a little kid. “Go forward, do not stray. You have in you all the strength you need.” 

Slowly, Ness nodded. 

“Okay.” 

He squeezed the Flying Man’s hand on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and walked on. 

“To the Sea of Eden.” 


End file.
